Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) in the South Atlantic Ocean has experienced basin-scaled freshening from 2005 to 2014, reflected by the Argo gridded products. Two zonal sections of WOCE observation also revealed a similar quasi-decadal signal. Our analysis revealed that such freshening was induced by the increase of freshwater input in the AAIW ventilation region and the decrease of Agulhas Leakage transport.
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Meridional Ekman transport in the tropical Atlantic was estimated directly by using observed ageostrophic velocity, and indirectly by using wind stress data. The direct and indirect methods agree well with each other. The top of the pycnocline represents the Ekman depth better than the mixed layer depth and a constant depth. The Ekman heat and salt fluxes calculated from sea surface temperature and salinity or from high-resolution temperature and salinity profile data differ only marginally.
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Recent studies have shown that the eastern tropical North Atlantic is subject to a strong decrease of the oceanic oxygen concentration in the upper 1000 m from the 1960s to today. By analyzing a broad observational data set, this study found an even stronger oxygen decrease in the upper 400 m throughout the past decade, whereas oxygen increase was found below (400–1000 m). Changes in the strength of the zonal currents are the most likely reason for the observed decadal oxygen changes.
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The decadal differences between the ALBATROSS (April 1999) and MOC2-Austral (February 2010) hydrographic cruises are analyzed. Changes in the intermediate water masses beneath seem to be very sensitive to the wind conditions existing in their formation area. The Subantarctic Front is wider and weaker in 2010 than in 1999, while the Polar Front remains in the same position and strengthens.
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In this note we investigate when and where we would expect the bottom to influence the dynamics of surface waves. In deep water, where the presence of the bottom is not felt by the waves, modelers can use a simpler description of wave-mean flow interactions; hence, the results are relevant for coupled wave-ocean modeling systems. The most pronounced influence is on the Northwest Shelf during winter, and can sometimes be significant even far from the coast.
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Some places experience double high tides, where the tide starts to ebb for a short while, only to briefly flood again before finally receding. The result is a very long high tide with weak currents, and is important for navigational purposes. The existing theory for when and where double high tides occur does not always capture them, and it can only be applied to double highs occurring on a twice-daily tide. Here, the criterion has been generalized to capture all double high or low tides.
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Climate models are the best tool available to estimate the ocean’s response to climate change, notably sea level rise. To trust the models, we need to compare them to the real ocean in key areas. Here we do so in the North Atlantic, where deep waters form, and show that inaccurate location, extent and frequency of the formation impact the representation of the global ocean circulation and how much heat enters the Arctic. We also study the causes of the errors in order to improve future models.
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We developed a new method for the determination of dissolved nitric oxide (NO) in discrete seawater samples based on the combination of a purge-and-trap setup and a fluorometric detection of NO. With this method we have a reliable and comparably easy to use method to measure oceanic NO surface concentrations, which can be used to decipher both its temporal and spatial distributions as well as its biogeochemical pathways in the oceans.
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